Method of esterifying the surface of a silica substrate having a reactive silanol surface and product thereof



2 Sheets-Sheet l BY fu/ 'R Oct. 27, 1953 METHOD 0E ESTERIEYING THE SURFACE 0E A SILICA sUBsTRATE HAVING A REACTTVE sTLANoL SURFACE AND PRODUCT THEREoF Filed Oct. 21, 1952 OC. 27, 1953 R K, H ER METHOD OF ESTERIFYING THE SURFACE OF A SILIGA SUBSTRATE HAVING A REACTIVE SILANOL SURFACE AND PRODUCT THEREOF Filed Oct. 21, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT-OR- ph K. [er

ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 27, 1953 METHOD OF ESTERIFYING THE SURFACE F A SILICA SUBSTRATE HAVING A RE- ACTIVE SILANOL SURFACE AND PRODUCT THEREOF Ralph K. 11er, Brandywine Hundred, Del., assignor to E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Dela- Application October 21, 1952, Serial No. 315,930

(Cl. 10G-308) 18 Claims.

This invention relates to organophilic, and preferably hydrophobic, products made up of a supercolloidal substrate which has a silica surface of high area and which is coated with -OR groups chemically bound to the silica surface, R being a hydrocarbon radical of at least two carbon atoms wherein the carbon atom attached to oxygen is also attached to hydrogen. The invention further relates to processes for making such products.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 shows an aggregate of substrate particles of the invention which are coated with OR groups,

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of a portion of the surface of one of the particles of gure 1 in section.

Figure 3 is a similar illustration of a modified particle, in section,

Figure 4 is a perspective View showing coated rod-like particles of a modified substrate of the invention, different portions of the typical particles shown being cut away, and

Figure 5 is a similar View of a plate-like substrate coated according to the invention.

Referring to the drawings more specifically, there is shown in Figure 1 a substrate, l. Upon this substrate there is a coating 2 of hydrocarbon groups. The substrate upon which the coating- 2 is chemically bound is a network of spherical particles formed into a coherent aggregate, the coating being cut away on a few of the particles to show the manner in which the particles are bound together into the aggregate. The substrate has a high specific surface area. The coating 2 makes the product organiphilic or even hydrophobic.

The relation between the substrate and the coating is more clearly illustrated in Figure 2 which shows a specific embodiment of the invention. In Figure 2 the substrate I is amorphous silica. The surface of the silica is largely bounded by -OH groups 3. The silica surface is illustrated as chemically bound to butoxy groups 4.

The product as illustrated in Figures l and 2 is made as will hereinafter be shown by the reaction of butanol with the surface of the silica on a silica substrate of amorphous silica particles bound. into aggregates.

Figure 3 illustrates a similar product in which a substrate i of silica is chemically bound, through oxygen, to branched-chain hydrocarbon groups 5. In particular, these groups are 5,7,7- trimethyl- 2 (1,3,3 trimethylbutyl) l octyl groups. VAs in Figure 3 the -OH groups `on the surface of the silica are designated at 3. The OR groups of I8 carbons atoms which are attached to the silica surface are less numerous, in proportion to the OII groups, than are the butoxy groups of Figure 2. This is because it requires less of the branched chain compounds to effect coverage as will be described hereafter.

Figure 4 illustrates a modied product in which the substrate is a rod-ilke or fibrous material of high surface area. For example, the ber may be chrysotile asbestos. The core of the ber is illustrated at l. This core of asbestos is surrounded with a surface of silica 6 formed or applied in manners which will hereafter be described. The organic coating 2 is chemically combined with the silica (i and is an ester coating of the types hereinafter described.

Figure 5 shows a modification in which the substrate is in the form of finely divided plates. The substrate of Figure 5 is composed of a core 8. The core is a clay-like hectorite. Formed upon the platelets of hectorite 8, or applied thereto, is a silica coating S. This coating is esteriiied with an alcohol to form a coating 2 as in the other embodiments illustrated.

THE MATERIALS ES'IERIFIED The supercolloidal substrate Which is coated or esteried according to this invention is characterized by having a surface of silica and by having a specinc surface area of at least one square meter per gram. The substrate forms the skeleton or internal structure of the products, as is illustrated in the drawings. The substrates are, of course, in the solid state.

It will be understood that for the purposes of this invention a hydrophobic or organophilic ester coating can be applied to any iinely divided product which has at least a surface of silica. It is not important for the purposes of the reaction what material comprises the interior of the particles reacted. As a matter of fact it is ordinarily preferable to use a substrate which is composed of silica throughout or which is siliceous, but heterogeneous products can be used as will be described.

By a surface of silica is meant a layer of silica, that is, a solid silicic acid in any state of dehydration, more than one SiOz deep, so that the surface layer consists not only of the silicon atoms on the surface which are attached to the organic groups through an oxygen linkage, but also a suicient depth of silica that the topochemical properties of the substrate are essentially those of a pure silica.

The substrates are in a supercolloidal state of subdivision, which means that whatever discrete particles are present are denitely larger than colloidalY size. The discrete silica particles in a silica sol are necessarily of colloidal dimensions, else they would settle out as precipitates; hence the supercolloidal particles of the substrates with which this invention is concerned are larger than the particles to be found in a stable silica sol.v The type of colloidal activity exhibited by the particles in a sol practically ceases when the particle size substantially exceeds about 100 millimicrons. As a practical matter, preferred Supercolloidal substrates have atleast one dimension of at least 150 millimicrons, Thesubstra-te may be made up of aggregates of ultimate units which are in the colloidal size range, provided such ultimate units are agglomerated into coherent aggregates of supercolloidal size.

A class of substrates of particular importance consists of inorganic siliceous solids having nu,- merous pores, voids or interstices therein. These materials are porous, in that they have. exposed surfaces in the interior of the lump or particle which are connected to the exterior so that liquids and gases can penetrate the pores and reach the exposed surfaces of the pore walls. Thus, the solid forms a three-dimensional network or Webwork through which the pores or voids or interstices extend as a labyrinth of pas.- sages or open spaces. Especially preferred as substrates are porous inorganic siliceous solids having average pore diameters of at least four millimicrons.

Porous materials for use as subtrates may be physically characterized by their bulk densities under known compressive loads. At three pound per square inch in excess of atmospheric pressure (p. s. i.) a inch x 1X2 inch glass tube fitted with a iiat ritted glass bottom was employed. A known weight of the silica is compressed by a stainless steel rod of known weight, acting on the surface of the silica through a porous glass plug resting on the surface. For measuring bulk densities of the siliceous materials under compressive loads of 78 p. s. i. and 1560 p. s. i., an accurately machined, hollo v cylindrical, steel pill press was employed and pressure is applied through an accurately fitting solid, steel plunger by means of a hydraulic `Carver laboratory press. From the known weight of the siliceous samples and the measured volumes under known compressive loads, the bulk densities can be calcuf lated.

Representative of porous inorganic siliceous solids suitable as substrates are coherent aggregates of extremely small, noneporous, substantially spherical ultimate, amorphous, dried silica unit. A coherent aggregate is one in which the ultimate tiny units are so rmly attached to each other that they cannot be separated by suspension in fluid medium. Such an aggregate can be pulverized by grinding and attrition. When those aggregates are made up of ultimate units joined in a fairly open threeedimensional network, they are pulverulent and can be easily disintegrated to iine powders having particle sizes in the range of 1-10 microns. These powdery particles retain the porous or network structure. The ultimate units are chemically bound together by siloxane bonds (Si-0.Si) so that the coherent aggregates can properly be thought of as chem? ical compounds of high molecular weight.

Coherent aggregates of amorphous silica can also be considered to be gel structures. Ihe

term coherent aggregate includes conventional silica gel. However, it also includes materials so diiierent from conventional silica gel that to call themv gels would` be misleading. In conventional silica gels, the ultimate spherical units are always below 10 and usually below 5 mllimicrons in diameter, and are so closely packed that the pores or interstices are very tiny. For many purposes, particleshavi-ng utli-mate units of 10 to 100 milli microns average diameter, or ultimate units 'below l0. millimicrons diameter joined in very open networks (large pore size), are much more advantageous than conventional silica gels, and are-preferred.V

Since the coherent aggregates of porous inorganic siliceous rSolids have labyrinths of pores Vthroughout their structures, and since the total exposedy surface area of the pore walls in many times. the exposed surface area on the external walls of said solids, the state of subdivision can vary widely without much change in the total exposed surface area of a given mass. For the purposes. of this invention. if there is a proper amount of surface area for a given mass of inorganic; siliceous solid, then it is technically immaterial whether the solid is in pieces the size of a baseball or larger or is comminuted to a fine powder. However, there is a practical maximum particle size, because in very large masses of substrate, for example, several inches in diameter, diffusion of the esterifying agent and water through the pores takes place very slowly and this may make the esterication process. impractical. It is therefore preferred to have the supercolloidal particles in a relatively finely divided condition. Ordinarily, this means that the supercolloidal particles should be sufficiently iine to pass through, for example,l a screen having meshes per linear inch. l Particles this small are powders., Powders are preferred.

The inorganic siliceous solids used as substrates have large, surface areas inv relation to` their mass. The relationship of surface area to mass is called the speciiic surface area and is expressed squaije meters per gram (m.2/g.). As used in this application, speciric surface area is expressed numerially in 1n.2/g. as determinable by nitrogen adsorption.

According to this invention there is a mini-.- mum specific surface area below which no important contribution is made by surface esterication.l This threshold value is about l m.2/g. For inorganic siliceous Solids subdivided into @Sv- Sentiallv spherical non-porous particles, thisoorresponds to ao average. particle diameter of about 2-3 microns- Tho Soeoiic .Surface ,area boo'mes quite signicant at about 25 m.2/g. ri'his c0rrespends to a particle diameter of about l00`millimicrons for essentially spherical non-porous particles.

Precipitated amorphous silica is one of the preferred substrates surface-esteriiied according to this invention.

It is preferred to use amorphous silica in the form of supercolloidal aggregates in" which the pores or spaces between the ultimate units have an average diameter, as determined from nitrogen adsorption curves, of at least 4 millimicrons. When the pores are smaller than this, the higher alcohols, particularly the C18 straight chain alcohols in which the molecule is around 2 millimicrons in length, penetrate the pores with difficulty, and when attached to the'exposed surface of the pore walls must ll them almost c'orhpletely.

Pore volumes may be determined from the nitrogen adsorption isotherms, as described by Holmes and Emmett in Journal of Physical and Colloid Chemistry, 51, 1262 (1947). The pore diameter values are obtained by geometric calculation from an assumed cylindrical pore structure.

The dried aggregates or gels in which the average pore diameter is smaller than about 4 millimicrons can still be reacted with alcohols to cover the external walls and most of the internal walls of the supercolloidal aggregates with ester groups, but if the substrate structure is broken apart by extreme grinding, the freshly formed hydrophilic silica surfaces formed by fracturing the aggregate structure amount to such a high percentage of the total nal surface that the disintegrated product has a relatively large proportion of unesteried surface.

On the other hand, where the supercolloidal aggregates have a looser structure and contain pores of at least about 4 millimicrons average diameter, the surface is easily accessible to alcohol, and the structure is ordinarily weaker, mechanically. These coarser pores may be the result of a much looser packing of small ultimate units Which may be, for example, 5 to 10 millimicrons in diameter, or the pores may be large due to the fact that the ultimate units are larger, for example 20 or 30 millimicrons in diameter, and therefore the spaces between the ultimate spherical units are naturally larger even in closely packed structures.

The ultimate spherical units constituting the preferred substrates are preferably quite uniform in size. Ultimate units having diameters smaller than about 5 millimicrons can become packed so closely together as to have pores below the minimum preferred. size. Hence, preparation of such aggregates requires special care. Spherical units having diameters larger than about 100 millimicrons have specific surface areas less than about 25 m.2/g., and are not preferred. Where the coherent aggregates have ultimate units of about 5 to 100 millimicrons average diameter, pore size problems are minimized. This, then is a preferred type of material to be esteried. Finely divided silica powders of this type consisting of ultimate units to 100 milimicrons in diameter, linked together to form supercollodal coherent aggregates, offer advantages as substrates because such powders are especially easy to filter and process; on the other hand, substrates of this type having ultimate units 5 to 15 millimicrons in diameter are very diiiicult to disperse in organic systems such as elastomers and plastics, whereas after esterication the dispersibility is remarkably improved.

Units in the size range of 5 to 100 millimicrons can be observed in the electron microscope, and the average unit diameter determined by direct measurement. However, in the electron microscope it is impossible to tell whether the units are linked directly together through a coalescence (siloxane linkage) of the units to a greater or less degree, or whether the units are separate and discrete particles lying together only in loose contact. If the latter is the case, the units may be readily re-dspersed in fluid medium to a colloidal state, and the silica does not, therefore, consist of coherent, supercolloidal aggregates. On the other hand, in the case of the coherent aggregates of the type which may be esterified by the process of this invention, the

ultimate umts are linked together through primary chemical bonds in the form of siloxane linkages. The degree to which the silica units are linked together or coalesced will be described hereinafter.

The electron microscope is particularly well adapted to the determination of apparent specific surface area, particle size and shape, particle size distribution, and degree of dispersion and occulation or aggregation in any finely divided material which has ultimate particles in the size range of a few microns to about 5 millimicrons. The method used in mounting the sample for observation under the electron microscope in a manner which will insure an accurate representation of the material and avoid changes due to the process of examination, the method for measuring particle sizes from projected images of electron microscopic photographs, and statistical methods for determining the mean diameters and mean specific surface areas from the particle count data are described in detail by J. H. L. Watson in Analytical Chemistry, 20, p. 576 (June 1948).

Nitrogen adsorption provides an accurate method for determining the specific surface area and pore Volume of the substrate. Since the nitrogen molecule has a diameter of less than 0.5 millimicron, it can penetrate essentially all of the pores of the substrates and is readily absorbed by all the exposed surfaces. A method for measuring specific surface areas by nitrogen adsorption is given in an article A new method for measuring the surface areas of finely divided materials and for determining the size of particles by P. H. Emmett in the publication, Symposium on New Methods for Particle Size Determination in the Sub-Sieve Range, published by the American Society for Testing Materials, March 4, 1941, p. 95. The value of 0.162 square millimicron for the area covered by one surface adsorbed nitrogen molecule is used in calculating the specic surface areas. These are expressed in square meters per gram, m.2/g.

The above-described electron microscope observation and nitrogen adsorption techniques may be used in various Ways to define the substrates employed and products produced according to this invention. In particular, they may be used to determine the degree to which the ultimate unit particles of a siliceous aggregate are linked together. Assuming that each ultimate unit observed in the electron micrograph is a separate and distinct particle, not linked chemically to other particles, the specic surface area of the silica is calculated, using 2.2 g./cc. as the density of the ultimate units. Then the specific surface area is determined by nitrogen adsorption. In the case of silica units which are united together, or coalesced, to form coherent aggregates, the specific surface area calculatedfrom electron micrographs is greater than the specific surface area as determined by nitrogen adsorption, since some of the apparent surface area of the units is taken up by the direct points of contact with adjacent particles. The degree to which the units are coalesced may be expressed :by the coalescence factor `Sc/Sn, Where Se is the surface area calculated from the electron micrograph, and Sn is the surface area as determined by nitrogen adsorption.

With perfectly smooth units which are not coalesced Sc/Sn would be 1.0. However, in actual practice, in nely divided silicas in the size range of 5 to 100 millimicrons, this factor is approxi- 7 mately 0.3 for -noncoalesced particles, probably because the surface of the particles 'contains small irregularities :and .-indentations not visible in the electron microscope. W-here the units have average diameters of l5 millimicrons or greater, and a coalescence factor greater than about 0.9, and particularly where this factor exceeds labout 1.0 as determined by actual 'ex- .-periment, the units are present in the form of firm, coherent aggregates.

Large coherent aggregates having values 'of S-c/Sn higher than about L3 are 4so strong that the material is dicu'lt to comminute. In one'preferred aspect of this invention powders having an ultimate unit average diameter range of to 30 millimicrons and a Lcoalescence `factor of 0.9 to 1.3 having :a specific surface area in the range of vabout 50 to 175 m.2/ g. are recovered directly from water in the form -of sup'ercolloidal aggregates and remain soft, light, smooth-feeling powders which are readily rendered hydrophobic by surface-esterification.

When the specic `surface area exceeds about 200 m.2/g., the surface of thematerial 'contains a relatively llarge proportion of the total number of silicon atoms present. In the case 1of Aa precipitated silica having a surface area of 200 m.2/g., more than 10% of all the silicon atoms are on the 'surface of the extremely small, dense, ultimate units 'of silica in the aggregate. With such substrates very marked physical effects are brought about by vsurface modification. For example, in the thickening of oils and organic coating compositions With fine silica having a specific surface area of over 200 :n2/g., the improvement in properties brought about by esterication becomes very important. Surface esteriiication also prevents shrinkage during drying from a liquid of such high-surface-area substrates, Whereas without esterication the substrates shrink substantially.

Precipitated amorphous silicas having specific surface areas in the range of about 200 to 400 m.2/g. can be obtained as supercolloidal aggregates in a dry state from water without any considerable collapse of the porous structure by replacing the water with a water-miscible organic solvent such as acetone and then drying. This powder is especially suitable for subsequent esterication. Similarly, Very voluminous aerogels having surface areas from 200 to 900 m.2/g. may be produced by processes of the prior art and these highly porous forms of silica can be surfacee'steried :by processes of this invention.

The external walls of dense, extremely finely pulverized, glassy silica gel may also be esteried by processes of this invention. Such gels have a specic surface area as high as 900 m.2/g., mostly las the walls of tiny pores less than 4 millimicrons in average diameter. However, in such compact structures, which cannot readily be further comminuted, a part of the esterifying agent is trapped within the tiny pores and does not contribute to the organo'philic or hydrophobic character of the exposed surface. Nevertheless, the ester groups on the external walls of such particles renders the surface organophilic or hydrophobic.

For a further comprehension of types of silica which may be esteried according to the present invention, it is important to understand the chemical changes which occur when silicio acid goes to silica gel or Ahydrated silica. These changes are well described in the book Natural .and 1Synthetic -fH-igh IPolymers .by K. v-Meyer (1942) at p. 85.

vAfurther excellent description `of the polymerization reaction is found in Chemical Reviews,

vol. 22, No. 3, June 1938 in an article by Charles B. `Hurd at p.`403; and especially at p. 405.

A silica which is in the form of very small, 'discrete particles having -a gel structure Within `the particles and which maybe esterii'led is described in my parent application Serial No. 590,728, led April 27, 1945, now abandoned. This is prepared by reacting sodium silicate tand an acid at a pH below 3.() to giv'e a silica sol, polymerizing the silicio acid in the sol sufficiently to make the sol 'viscous, mixing an Iorganic hydrogen bondingdonor compound, such as tertiary butyl alcohol, with the sol, dissolving salt in the mixture, whereby a phase separation loccurs giving 'a hydrogen bonder phase containing the silicio acid and an aqueous brine phase, Aand polymerizing the silicio acid further in the bonder phase until hydrated silica is precipitated in the form of 'discrete particles. The precipitated silica is Aseparated from its mother liquor and washed free of salt.

The wet precipitate, after 'separation from the precipitation medium, consists of inely divided, hydrated silica in the `form of "coherent aggregates. ln thin layers it :is translucent, almost transparent, and very slippery to the touch. When water is removed from the product by mechanical means such as filtration, a mass having the consistency 'of a heavy grease can be recovered, and in contrast to massive silica gel it is easily resuspended in water by mechanical agitation to form 'a smooth Vsuspension of Acoherent aggregates of supercolloid'al size which are not further aggregated into lumps.

The individual particles of the wet silica precipitate have reactive hydroxyl groups upon their surfaces. When the particles are dried down, these groups unite with ea'ch other and the product becomes a rigid, hard mass resembling dried silica gel. This mass may be ground to a iin'e powder and it may be activated in a current of hot, dry air. When so activated it has a high adsorptive capacity for water vapor.

The silica substrates prepared as described above may be esteried according to a process of this invention, either as the wet filter cake or as the dried, nely ground powder. The wet cake may be dried in an oven, `or the water may be removed by adding an organic hydrogen bonding donor compound which forms an az'eotrope with water, such as tertiary butyl alcohol, and distilling off the Water, as described in my application Serial No. 590,728.

Silicas precipitated in the form of finely di'- vided, discrete particles by 'various other methods may also be esteried according to the present invention. Recently, examination of some of these precipitates under the electron microscope .has indicated that they have structures which,

though nonec'rystalline, are nevertheless capable of considerable denition. By 'exariiiriingv the profile of a piece of silica gel, 'for instance, it is possible to discern groups of ultimate, substantially spherical, units having diameters as small as three to five millimicrons. By supplementing the electron incrograph data with data obtained by measuring the nitrogen adsorption, a substantial definition of the material is possible.

To produce a porous, amorphous silica solid made up of coalesced, relatively large (l5-130 millimicron diameter), dense, substantially spherical ultmate units, the ultimate units can be pregesamt pared first and then coalesced and precipitated to form the desired porous amorphous silica solid. These ultimate units may be produced by buildup on the particles in a silica sol as disclosed in Bechtold and Snyder U. S. Patent 2,574,902. The ultimate units can then be coalesced into supercolloidal particles and precipitated from the sol by the addition of a salt such as sodium sulfate or a polyvalent metal salt. If the amount cf ca+- ion retained by the siiica is substantial, it may be removed from the precipitated product by an acid wash or by cation exchange.

The precipitation above-described is the subject of Alexander et al. applications, Serial Nos. 99,351 and 99,353, both led June 15, 194e.

The silica may also be precipitated by adding a long-carbon-chain. nitrogen compound such as a long-chain amine or a long-chain Quaternary ammonium compound, as described in my application Serial No. 99,355 filed June 15, 1949. Representative of the Quaternary compounds are cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide, lauryl pyridinium chloride, lauryl trimethyl ammonium chloride, and similar compounds.

Dense ultimate silica units comparable in charu acter to those described above may be prepared by adding an acid such as sulfuric to a hot (above 60 C.) solution of sodium silicate. The addition is conducted over a period or" time. The sodium ion concentration in the solution must not exceed 0.3 normal. The units thus formed can be coalesced to porous supercolloidal particles and precipitated from the solution by methods as above described. The details of a typical preparation oi a particulate silica suitable for esterication according to the present invention are described in my copending application Serial No. 99,349 led June l5, 1949.

A product of the type just described may also be prepared as described in Alexander et al. U. S. Patent 2,601,235.

It is not necessary to maintain the ultimate units as separate entities until the precipitation step. They can be coalesced while being generated in diulte solution. Such products suitable for esteriiication according to the present invention can be prepared by any of the processes described in an application by Alexander, Wolter, and myself, Serial No. 244,722, filed August 31, 1951. Brieiiy, these materials can be prepared by mixing an aqueous dispersion of active silica with coalesced aggregates consisting of a plurality of amorphous, dense, ultimate silica units and heating the mixture above 60 C. at a pH of 8 to 11, whereby the active silica accretes to the coalesced aggregates. The dispersion of active silica can conveniently be prepared by adding sodium silicate and acid simultaneously to an aqueous dispersion of aggregates. The aggregates may be prepared by adding carbon dioxide gas to a sodium silicate solution heated to a temperature of 95 C., Ythe addition being completed over a period of about forty minutes. The CO2:NazO mol ratio should be about 1.2 and the pH of the sol around 10. The sol thus prepared can serve as a heel to which carbon dioxide gas and sodium silicate solution are added simultaneously with agitation and at a temperature oi about 95 C. The quantity of SiOz in the feed solution should be about four parts for each part of SiOz originally present in the heel. The silica nuclei which are built-up by this process will serve as nuclei for the build-up of the coalesced aggregates using active silica as above described. Aggregates prepared in various manners also may be used, so

10 long as they are in finely divided, particulate form.

An especially practical adaptation of the prooedure just described consists in reinforcing the structure of precipitated silica in particulate form by accreting active silica thereto. Such products may more readily be dried without collapse of the gel structure to give particles of very low bulk density. Both these products, and the corresponding products in which the original ultimate units in the aggregates before reinforcement were larger than those in a gel, can advantageously be dried by adding an organic liquid such as tertiary or normal butyl alcohol and azeotropically distilling out the water. The details of such a process are described in the above-mentioned application Serial N o. 244,722.

Another type of substrate suitable for esteriication by a process of this invention consists of particles having an external coating or layer of amorphous silica upon an internal core of another material. Such products may be made by depositing active silica upon nuclei of the heterogeneous substance by treating sodium silicate with an acid in the presence of the core materials, as described above and more fully set forth in my application Serial No. 252,965, led October 24, 1951. Colloidal clays, glass bers and other metal silicates, titania pigments, and the like may serve as cores, the ultimate, coated particles being of supercolloidal size.

Another suitable form of a hydrated amorphous silica powder which may be used as a substrate is one characterized as consisting of supercolloidal aggregates of ultimate units of from 10 to 50 millimicrons in diameter, described in Chemical Engineering 54, 177, (1947), produced by the Linde Air Products Company. It has a specic surface area of about 240 sq. meters per gram and a bulk density of about 0.064 grams per cc. at 3 p. s. i.

A further form of amorphous silica which may be used as a substrate is an aerogel having a specic surface area of about 160 m.2/g. as determined by nitrogen adsorption, and a bulk density of about 0.087 gram per cc. at 3 p. s. i. g. and marketed as Santocel C by the Monsanto Chemical Co.

Still another form of amorphous silica substrate is a powder consisting of supercolloidal aggregates of ultimate units having an average diameter of about 25 millimicrons, a surface area of about In.2/g., and containing a small amount of calcium (1 to 2% by weight) marketed by the Columbia Chemicals Division of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company as Hi-Sil.

Yet another form of amorphous silica powder substrate consists of supercolloidal aggregates having a surface area of about 210 m.2/g. and obtained from Germany under the trade name of Ii-3.

It is well known that silicas prepared by various methods may be treated with heavy metal salts or hydrous heavy metal oxides to prepare heavy metal silicates which are waterinsoluble, and usually amorphous as determined by X-ray examination.l These metal silicates may be prepared from any of the special types of silica Whose preparation is disclosed above,

by treatment with signicant amounts of metal salts. They can be prepared so as to have a large number of silanol (-SiOH) groups on the surface of the particles, and consequently may .be esteried by the methods of this invention.

Metal silicates having a large proportion of metal bon atoms are also especially preferred because they are relatively low boiling liquids which are most readily handled in the process, and when present as unreacted excess can be most readily removed from the esteried product by drying in a vacuum oven without the necessity of extraction procedures. They are also the most economical to use, and yield a product having a low ratio of organic matter to silica which is very desirable for certain uses.

Mixtures of alcohols can be used as the esterifying agent.'

THE ES'IERIFICATION PROCESS Processes of the present invention comprise the step of chemically reacting an alcohol of the formula ROI-I in which R is a hydrocarbon radical having at least 2 carbon atoms, wherein the carbon atom attached to oxygen is also attached to hydrogen, with an inorganic siliceous n When the substrate is in the form of a Wet mass such as a lter cake, it is necessary to remove the free water, either before the substrate is put into the alcohol, or by distillation after the wet substrate is mixed with the alcohol.

If the substrate is a type which does not shrink to a hard compact mass upon drying from water, ordinary drying means may be employed, vacuum drying in `some instances being preferred. But if the substrate shrinks or otherwise changes under ordinary drying, a preferred method is to displace the water with a polar organic solvent, which if desired may later be recovered by evaporation and recycled. For example, a wet lter cake of nely divided precipitated silica may be Washed thoroughly with acetone to displace the Water, and the acetone-wet mass may be dried directly to a soft powder, which is more voluminous and easily suspended in alcohol than it is when dried directly from Water. Such a water displacement may be operated as a continuous extraction, in which efficiency can be improved by counter-current methods. Y

Azeotropic distillation is a preferred method of removing Water from Wet substrates. The waterwet substrate can be mixed with a polar organic liquid, such as methyl ethyl ketone, and the mix- 'ture distilled until the system is free from Water, 'leaving the siliceous solid in suspension in anhydrous organic liquid. The organic liquid may then be evaporated to give a dry product for reaction With alcohol. The alcohol, which is later *to be used for esterication, may also be used as the azeotropic dehydrating agent. For example, the iilter cake can be mixed with normal butyl alcohol and Water may be distilled oi as the normal butyl alcohol azeotrope. I'his azeotrope, upon condensation and cooling, splits into an alcohol-rich layer and a Water-rich layer. The alcohol-rich layer is returned to the distillation pot, While the water-rich layer is removed from the system, stripped f alcohol by further distillation, and the water discarded. y

The type of organic liquid used, and the particular methods of drying or of transferring to the alcohol reaction mixture depend upon the type of silica involved, and the type of product desired.

Generally, those forms of silica or silicates which form dense, hard masses when dried from water, are preferably dehydrated by Washing or extraction with a Water-miscible organic liquid having a water-rich azeotrope, such as normal propyl alcohol. Where shrinkage to dense but friable masses occurs upon drying from Water, azeotropic dehydration can be carried out with organic liquids which are only partially miscible with water, such as normal butyl alcohol. Where shrinkage of the substrate upon drying from Water is not a serious factor, but the nely divided state of the powder makes it dicult or undesirable to dry by ordinary means the azeotropic dehydration may be carried out by distillation with a water-immiscible liquid such as kerosene.

The presence of extraneous materials, other than water, is also to be avoided. Strong acids, and alkalis are particularly undesirable because they alect the stability of the reactants and products. Washing will remove such soluble extraneous materials. Any remaining strong acid or alkali can be rendered relatively harmless by adjusting pH to the range of 2 to 9 and preferably to the range of 5 to 8.

Having conditioned the substrate for esterication by drying it and removing extraneous matter as just described, there is added to the substrate suiicient alcohol to provide a suciently high concentration of alcohol in contact with the substrate to facilitate a practical rate of reaction. The reaction rate is much more rapid when the alcohol is in the liquid state, and therefore usually suicient alcohol is used to provide a liquid alcoholic medium. Not all of the substrate need be in contact with the liquid alcohol phase at any one time; for example, a moist mass of silica wetted with alcohol may be heated With continuous mixing under conditions such that some of the silica is in contact with liquid alcohol. The preferred procedure is to have suiiicient liquid alcohol present to wet all of the siliceous material which is to be reacted. For mechanical reasons, sucient alcohol is usually used to provide a slurry which can be readily stirred.

Unless water is removed from the system during the reaction, the water content of the system is increased during the esteriiication by waterof reaction and may exceed 5% unless suiiicient anhydrous alcohol is added, either before or during the reaction step. The preferred procedure of operating under atmospheric pressure is to remove water continuously by azeotropic distillation during the reaction, and thus keep down the water content.

To obtain organophilic products, the Water content of the alcohol in the system at the end of the reaction period should not exceed about 5%, based on the weight of water in the liquid alcohol phase, and excluding the Weight of siliceous material in suspension. The Water content can be readily determined by filtering out the siliceous material and determining water in the filtrate by titration with Fischer reagent.

To produce hydrophobic products, the water content of the alcoholic medium at the end of the reaction should not exceed about 3% by weight.

For maximum esteriflcation, i. e., to produce products having practically no absorptionl capacity for methyl red from benzene solution, it is necessary to maintain the water content of the liquid phase of the reaction mixture below about 1.5% by weight. In fact, it is desirableto keep the water content as low as possible at all times.

:italiano The limits -on Water content just mentioned should be observed over a period of time sufllcient to attain practical Yequilibrium vii-thin the system. it Ais not suicient to vheat the siliceous solid with alcohol over Ia period of time -at a substantially higher Water :content and then reduce the Water content below the maximum -values just at the end Iof vthe reaction. Rather, the system should be vmaintainedwith a -water content below these values VYfor sufficient ltime at the reaction temperature to insure that the reaction has proceeded yas far as it will Ago under lthose-particular conditions -of time, temperature, pressure, and Water content.

:The esterication reaction is facilitated by heating the substrate with the alcohol at an 'elevated temperature. There is a definite time-temperature relationship -for this reaction but at any gai-ven temperature the practical extent of reaction-is ixed :more -by the temperature than lbytlie timethat is, it proceeds quite rapidly lup to a certain -point which -is 'characteristic of the temperature and of the alcohol, and thereafter proceeds `only `very slowly. Thus, for example, the exten-t of Yreaction readily vobtainable 4at 130 C. can be obtained at 100 vC only l'by using an .extremely long reaction `time and Jfor lpractical purposes the attainable extent of reaction at 1100 C. is much"lower than fat 130 C.

`The -minimumreaction time and temperature required to -obtain a given extent -oi reaction varies-also lwith thetype of valcohol used. Short chain fprimary alcohols react somewhat more rapidlythanlong:chain alcohols and, in general,

primary alcoholsreact more rapidly and more f completelyatfa given temperature than secondary alcohols. "The-rate and extentof reaction are =related to `the shape Aof the alcohol molecule em ployed, the'longer alcohols and the vmore highly branchedalcohols'and particularly the secondary alcohols, representing varying amounts of steric hindrance. Y Y

lThe following Y table *indicates the-temperature requiredior 4the lpreparation of a given :typebof product l'v'zvinin a practical 'reaction vtime .suchv as one orftwofhours. lThis assumes that-*during kthis reactionstime :the vater content Vof-fthe system is maintained'fbelow T15%. VOne Vskilledin the art may learn lfrom #the data theV general principles involved, .and concludewhat conditions shouldwbe used for .anyother alcohol.

Process 'temperatures ,for 1 hr. reaction ,time

the solid Iesteriiied product may be removed from the excess alcohol by iiltration. Alternatively. vacuum may be applied `to the reaction vessel, removing the alcohol rapidly by vaporization. Alcohols which distill readily at atmospheric prese sure Without decomposition can be removed from the ester-ined product Isimply by distillation, or by d-ryn'ig -in Ian oven, fitted, for example, .Wit-h a vapor recovery system.

Where the esterication reaction is carried ,out under pressure, it is most convenient to vent the excess alcohol as vapor While the reaction vessel is still under high temperature and pressure. While it is fpossible to heat the reaction mixture lunder pressure .to 4,alcove the critical point, and then `vent to remove the alcohol from the product without having liquid .phase present, there is ordinarily no advantage in such a procedure, andiin fact, .the temperatureponditions required for such operation vare .often so `high as to result Iin decomposition of the alcohol and of the reaction product. The preterredmethod is to heat the siliceous material under pressure with the alcohol only long venough to complete the esterication reaction, which usually requires less than one Vhour and .oftenonly a `few minutes, and then release thealcohol vapors with continued applicationof heat tothe vessel tooornpletethe vaporization of thefliquid alcohol. lhenthe vessel is hushed with inertgas to remove theremainng alcohol vapors, or a vacuum ils-applied .for the same purpose, to obtain an alcoholefree esteried product'.

Since the highel` alcohols .are not readily distilledlexcept under very high vacuum, itis more convenient `.to remove an excessof .such an alcoholbyextractingit .with a lowboiling solvent .such as .methyl .ethyl ketone, chloroform, or ether. ,The 4surfacefesterilied .-siliceoussolid can be sepa-y rated Vfrom-1911extraction medium readily by liltration orcentrifuging. After the `higher Yalcohol has been srompletelyremoved, the solvent lmay be evaporated from lthe product, leaving a dry pow,- der.

.Instead :of v,removing excess alcohol after the reactcnpart ,orall of the alcohol can be left in the Vproducts vfor .some uses and -additional Quantities of falcoholor other liquids `can beadded .without drying the'products. Thus, anesteri- .edprductcan ,beincorporated as an alcoholic slurrydirectlyrinto liquid -or solid compositions of matter, so that theV esterified productfs never -lecoveredinthegdry state. Alsothe products can becompressed from the alcoholic slurry, .either .wither without .the .addition cfa binder, 4to give pellets, bricks, `or 4other ,shapesyor forms of solids. It will, therefore, be understood that -modi'caa tions .of this ,kind or theirequivalentsare Within Primary ,Secondary alcohols alcohols 5 degrees .degrees Qrganophllic .c 110 .1130 Hydrophoblcl 118 225 Zero methyl red-dye adsorption 190 275 necessary Vto achieve 'esterication equilibrium.

- 'After' 4the desired'equilibrium'has been reached,

ythepspirit vand Iscope ofthe invention.

ESTERIFIED PRODUCTS "Theamended-products Aof this .invention 49,0mprisega supercolloidal substrate, that is, ,a substrate 'infthe :form of particles .largerthan colloidal ,..szef coated with icf-OR groups, the substrate ',:lliavugv a surfacegof silica `'and having a Speci1ic-lsizrfacelareafof.at least 1 squaremctcr per gram, ,the-locating of .-OR groups being chemically bound to'said .silica amarre,- being a hydrocarbon radical .or .at least4 2 carbon. atoms whereinxthe'carbon-.atom attached to oxygen is also attached to hydrogen. ,These products-I have estelsils.

y Infphysical YV.appearance therroductsare powders, although -insoxnednstancesxthey may be ,in the :sform-.of lumps pr cakes which, usually are i? pulverable under the pressure of the fingers or by light rubbing action. In some instances the products are obtained directly in the form of exceedingly fine, light, iuffy, voluminous powders, some of which are so mobile and free-flowing that they behave very much like uids. The coherent aggregates or particles are so small and soft that there is a total absence of grittiness or abrasiveness in the velvety feel of the powder.

The products are colorless or translucent and the t bulk powder may appear translucent or, more often, white. The esterified metal silicates are often colored. For example, crocidolite asbestos is bright blue, even after acid treatment and esterification. The products are odorless and tasteless.

The light, fluffy nature of the preferred products can be expressed by their bulk density, expressed as bulk densities of about 0.15 g./cc. or below, under a compressive load of 3 pounds per square inch (p. s. i.) and about 0.30 g./cc. or below, at 78 p. s. i. are preferred for some uses.

The preferred products can be compressed into pellets for handling and shipment and then easily reduced again to powder by milling.

The internal structure of the original sub- .strate is substantially unchanged by the surface esterification, hence, the description already given of the substrates also applies to the internal structure of the esterified products.

One esteried product of great value has an internal structure in the form of a coherent aggregate wherein the ultimate units are dense, non-porous, spherical, amorphous silica having average diameters in the range of to 100 milli microns. Such aggregates have a labyrinth of pores, averaging at least about 4 millimicrons diameter, and have specific surface areas of at least m.2/g. The ultimate units cohere through siloxane bonds formed prior to esteriication, and the bonds may be reinforced by further deposition of silica. Aggregates in which the bond strength corresponds to coalescence factors (Sc/Sn) between 0.9 and 1.3 are preferred. Aggregates less strongly coherent have Value for some purposes but have the disadvantage of giving a less rigid structure. Also, higher coalescence factors are not preferred for some uses since they make it very difficult to comminute the aggregates (which are often 1 to 10 microns or larger) into smaller particles, the latter particles being desirable, for example, when the products are used in organic coating compositions, plastics, oils or the like. In other words, the preferred powders permit the making of compositions of organic materials strengthened or reinforced or thickened by tiny, structured, siliceous skeletons. Ultimate structural units of l5 to 30 millimicrons are especially preferred because of ease of processing and elfectiveness.

Another valuable product of this invention has an internal structure of amorphous silica units as tiny as to give a specic surface area of at least 200 hr2/g., the units being joined in coherent aggregates. For most purposes products in which the substrate has a specific surface area of about 900 m.2/g. is a practical upper limit; however, the range of about 200 to 600 m.2/'g. is is a preferred range because such products have a balanced proportion of inorganic internal structure to ester groups giving excellent reinforcing and filling properties together With outstanding compatibility for organic materials. Preferably these coherent aggregates have such an open network structure as to have an average 18 pore size vof at least 4 millimicrons diameter. When pores of this size are present in the esteried particles, the further reduction in size of the particles by comminuting, grinding, milling, etc. can be accomplished without destroying the organophilic characteristics of the material.

In amorphous silicas, the size or diameter of the pores between the dense ultimate silica units is smaller when the units are more tightly packed together; hence, a greater proportion of the surface is lost through points of contact between the units, and the nal specific surface area available for esteriflcation is greatly diminished. When an esteried product of this type is subsequently broken apart in dispersing it by milling into organic polymers such as plastics, the ultimate units are in many cases broken apart from each other, thus creating an appreciable amount of unesteried surface. For this reason, preferred esteried products are those prepared from substrates in which the average pore size is at least about four millimicrons in diameter. Furthermore, such products are more stable to- Ward hydrolysis at average humidity. Very small pores tend to attract and hold condensed moisture, which in time may lead to hydrolysis of the ester. The large-pored products are hence preferred.

A third embodiment of the products of the invention has a substrate of water-insoluble metal silicate. The ultimate dense units in this embodiment are usually non-spherical. They can be shaped like needles, threads, rods, laths, sheets or plates, depending upon the crystalline structure of the original substrate. When these ultimate units are chemically bonded together by siloxane linkages they form coherent aggregates having strong siliceous lattices.

Y et another embodiment of the internal structure in products of the invention is that in which the lattices of metal silicates are strengthened by deposition of amorphous silica on the metal silicates.

The bulk density and crushing strength of the esteried products having substrates of coherent amorphous silica aggregates are dependent on the corresponding properties of the internal structures. The pore size aeets bulk density, since the true density of the amorphous silica units is about 2.2 g./cc. The coalescence factor affects the crushing strength or' the products. Where the bonds between the ultimate units within the aggregates are strong, the effect of pressure is that the powder will be compacted by bringing the aggregates closer 'together without collapsing them. Only by breaking down the bonds between the ultimate units is high bulk density effected.

The kind of ester group which is chemically bound to the substrate will dependen the alcohol which is used as the esterifying agent.

For many purposes aliphatic unsaturation is undesirable. In fact, for very inert products all unsaturation is avoided and the ester groups contain only saturated hydrocarbon radicals, i. e., the ester groups are alkoxy groups. Such groups make the products organophilic and hydrophobic and quite unreactive. While both straight and branched chains are quite satisfactory, straight chains have the advantage that they exhibit a minimum of steric hindrance, and hence, a maximum number of ester groups can be chemically bound to a given surface area.

Gn the other hand, products containing unsaturated hydrocarbon radicals are especially 19 useful as llers for partially -polymerized vorganic compounds, 'as previously mentioned.

The products of this 'invention are 'organophilic and may also be hydrophobic. Before esterication, the substrate particles are hydrophilic-that is, have -a Astrong afnity for water and are readily wetted by it, probably because they have surfaces 'containing silanol (--SiOI-I) groups. Now when the hyrdoxyl groups of the silanols are replaced VAby ester gropus -to the extent contemplated in this invention, `the particles become organophilic, in that they have an afnity for organic liquids and are readily wetted by them even in preference to water. If enough silanols are esteried, the `products are also hydrophobic.

Simple tests to determine whether surface siliceous powders are hydrophobic or organophilic can be carried out as follows:

The -powder is slurried atleast twice with an excess or" warm -methyl ethyl ketone and ltered, to remove alcohol not chemically lreacted with the siliceous surface. It is then dried Vat '75 C. in a vacuum oven for about 124 hours. (For esteried products containing -an excess vof the lower alcohols, the preliminary Asolvent extraction is not necessary since the excess alcohol is evaporated off in the drying.) The dry powder is passed through Va 260 mesh screen. A .1/4 cc. sample of the powder is added .to cc. of distilled water at room temperature inao cc., 6 in. long test tube. The .tube .is stoppered and given about ve vigorous verticalshalres. The siliceous material which lhas not wetted into the water (e. g., is iloating on the surface) and does not wet into water after standing .for .15 minutes, is considered to be hydrophobic. Then 10 cc. of normal butanol is added to .the test tube, and it is again stoppered and given five vigorous vertical shakes. It will be seen that the butanol forms a separate layer which floats on the water. The silioeous material which Yrises above the interface and passes into suspension in the butanol layer upon gentle stirring is considered organophilic according to this test. (If an emulsion results upon shaking, it may be broken by gentle agitation with a glass stirring rod or by allowing the mixture to stand for as much as one-half hour, if necessary, to complete the test.) All of the products of this invention are definitely organophilic according to this test, and the preferred products are suiciently highly esteried to be also hydrophobic and consequently, waterresistant. y

Particularly preferred products of this invention are not only hydrophobic but are so highly esterii-led as to adsorb essentially no methyl red dye from benzene solution and are outstanding in their ability to resist wetting by water. The adsorption of methyl red from benzene is described as a method .for determining specific hy droxylated surface area by Shapiro and Kolthoff, Journal American Chemical Society, '72, lv776 (1950) In its present Vadaption the method oonsists of removing any free alkali metal ion in the esteried sample, drying it, and intensively mixing it with an anhydrous benzene solution of the acid form of methyl red dye. Surface silanol groups will adsorb the dye., Whereas ester groups will not. Equilibrium adsorption is reached in about two hours and an equilibrium concentration of 460 milligrams of dye per liter insures saturation adsorption. 'The .methyl red adsorption capacity is calculated from the weight of dye adsorbed per unit weight of sample, the actual Methyl .red adsorption .capacity X 269.3 being the molecular weight of the 5methyl red, 6.02 l023 being Avagadros number, and 116 l l20 being an area factor based on Vthe fact that each methyl red moleculecovers an 'area of 1.16 square millimicrons. Specific hydroxyl ated surface areas of less than 5 HL2/g. as so calculated are within the limit of experimental'error and are considered to be 'essentially zero.

There is a correlation between the number of ester groups present 'per unit surface area and the organophilic and hydroxylated properties Iof the products of this invention. `A certain `minimum number of ester groups 'per unit surface area makes the products organophilic. As this number is increased, the preference for organic solvents increases. At a much higher concentration than the minimum, a second sig-nificant change occurs, and the products are not only highly organophil'ic butftheycease lto be hydrophilic. They are hydrophobic. They not A'only exhibit a preference for vthe organic solvent over water, but even in the absence of organic solvent they refuse to enter the water.

To be hydrophobic, the esteriled products need not have their 'surfaces crowded with Jester groups. Some uncovered spots can be 'present as illustrated at i0 in Figure 1 ofthe drawings, provided the repulsion of water by the ester groups is -greater than the attraction o water by the uncovered spots. These uncovered Aspots can be measured as specic hydroxylated surface area, by the methyl red adsorption technique described above.

For most substrates prior .to esterirlcation, and particularly for those having `specific surface areas, .as determined by nitrogen adsorption, lower than 20'0 vm.2/g., the vspecific hydroxylated surfacearea as determined by dye adsorption is approximately equal to the specic .surface area. In this case, 'practically .all of the surface which is accessible to nitrogen 'is .also accessible to dye molecules. ln the case of substrates .having much higher specific .surface areas, particularly those in which the pores are very small, accessibility of 'the whole surface to .methyl red dye molecules is less complete, resulting in a low value for hydroxylated surface area. However, there are also other instances where the chemical nature or" the surface, rather than the physical structure, results in a diminution of the dye adsorption Ycapacity of the substrates. In the .case of certain siliceous materials, for example, there are areas of the surface which 'apparently vare devoid of sila-ncl groups. These areas consist of asiloxane surface where the silicon atoms are attached only to oxygen rather than hydroxyl groups. Even in such cases, however, reduction in specific hydrcxylated surfacearea due to esteriiicationis a good measure of the `extent of esterification. 'Failure of an esteried product to adsorb any methyl red dye shows that no unprotected hydroxylated surface area remains. The degree of .surface estercation can also be determined directly by determining the carbon content of the product and measuring 'the sur- 2f face area of the substrate by nitrogen adsorption, and calculating the carbon as ester groups per unit area.

The products of this invention have OR groups chemically bound, rather than physically adsorbed, to the surface of silica. The chemically bound OR groups cannot be desorbed even under very high vacuum and relatively high temperatures, in contrast to adsorbed alcohols which are readily removed in this manner. The esteriiied products are temperature-stable, and may be heated to at least 150 C. under a high vacuum of -5 millimeters of mercury pressure for l hour or more, or for one hour at 150 C. in a dry nitrogen atmosphere, or for one hour at 120 C. in dry air, without significant decomposition. When heated to Very high temperatures, e. g., 500 C., in air or oxygen, the OR groups are destroyed by oxidation- The OR groups chemically reacted with the silica surface cannot be removed by washing with hot methyl ethyl ketone or similar solvents, or by prolonged extraction in a Soxhlet extractor. No alcohol is displaced from the silica by treatment with such solvents, in contrast to the displacement of one solvent by another, which is observed in the case of ordinary physical adsorption.

rEhe reaction of alcohols with surface silanol groups resulting in the formation of chemically bound ester groups should not be confused with the physical adsorption of alcohol which in some cases is sufficiently strong to make it diflicult to remove from the siliceous surface. However, physically adsorbed alcohols do not render the surfaces either organophilic or hydrophobic, and can be removed by subjecting the material to high vacuum at relatively low temperatures.

A further difference between surface-siliceous products containing alcohol held by physical adsorption and esteried products of the present invention is noticed in the effect of esterication on methyl red dye adsorption. Thus, physically adsorbed alcohol does not change the methyl red adsorption, Whereas esterification lowers it signicantly.

One of the advantages of the esteried products of this invention is their stability towards hydrolysis, i. e., their ability to retain their organophilic and hydrophobic characteristics in a humid atmosphere and even in contact with liquid water for long periods of time. The products which are most highly esteried, i. e., those which show no dye adsorption, are the most stable towards hydrolysis under very rigorous conditions involving treatment of the esteriiied silica with water and steam at 100 C. The products which are hydrophobic but still show significant dye adsorption, are also quite stable towards hydrolysis, being considerably. more stable than the products which are merely organophilic.

Beginning with OR groups wherein R 1s ethyl, hydrophobic products are obtained. Moreover, the organophilic products (as well as those which are both organophilic and hydrophobic) stability against hydrolysis under quite severe conditions. They are sufficiently stable to permit their use under most conditions which they are likely to encounter.

Highly esteriied silicas containing primary ester groups having 3 or more carbon atoms 1n the chain are particularly highly hydrophobic, hence are particularly diricult to wet with water and are unusually stable tov/ard hydrolysis even 22 under very severe conditions. Consequently npropanol is the shortest chain member of a highly preferred class of esterifying agents which contain from 3 to 6 carbon atoms.

Since the esterication of this invention is a surface phenomenon, the effectiveness of the treatment may be measured by calculating the esterication in terms of the number of ester groups per 190 square millimicrons surface area of the internal structure. The esterification value, E, is the number of OR groups per one hundred square millimicrons of surface area, and is calculated from the expression:

where C is the weight of carbon in grams attached to grams of siliceous substrate, n is the number of carbon atoms in the OR groups, and Sn is the specic surface area in :n2/g. of the siliceous substrate as determined by nitrogen adsorption.

Where the type of alcohol used in esterification is known, a carbon analysis and the specific surface area of the substrate esteried are all that is required in order to calculate the surface esterication. On the other hand, where a sample is to be analyzed in which the type of alcohol is unknown, the sample can be decomposed with an acid and the alcohol can be recovered and identied so that the number of carbon atoms in the alcohol can be determined.- The specific surface area of the siiiceous substrate may be determined, after burning off the ester groups as eX- plained hereinafter, and the degree of surface esteriiication may be calculated as above described.

To render a surface siliceous material markedly organophilic, it is neecssary to have present on the surface more than about 10i) ester groups per 100 square millimicrons of the substrate surface area.

A hydrophobic product usually requires at least 200 ester groups per square milliinicrons of substrate surface, based on nitrogen absorption measurements on the unesterii-led surface. This surface area may be determined either on the siliceous material before esterication or on the siliceous skeleton after the ester groups khave been removed by a process which does not affect the nature of the skeleton. For hydrophobic products, even fewer ester groups may be required in the case of some alcohols, but for` most of the alcohols and especially for the preferred alcohols, about at least 200 alcohol molecules must be reacted with every 1GO square millimiorons of surface to form the corresponding number of ester groups.

Even in the case of products which have been rendered hydrophobic with the minimum required number of ester groups, the surface is not completely crowded with ester groups, and there still remain some exposed surface silanol groups as evidenced by the fact that the products have an appreciable hydroxylated surface area. Products of maximum stability toward hydrolysis are those in which the ester groups are crowded together so closely on the surface that the surfacey is completely protected. When this occurs, the specic hydroxylated surface area as measured by methyl red dye is zero. For most of the ester groups, this requires at least about 270 ester groups per 160 square millimicrons. An exception to this is the metal silicates where portions of the surface are devoid of esteriiiable silanol groups yet retain other polar groups 'which sorb dye. In such cases lthe product may :have ia measurable dye adsorption although the Iester groups can be crowded closely together 'on the esterified portions of the sur-face giving them maximum stability toward hydrolysis. Because some ester` groups diner in shape considerably from others, there are some cases 'where this number of ester groups cannot be crowded onto the surface, and the surface is completely protected by fewer ester .groups than 327i) `.per 100 square millimicrons. However, for lthe preferred alcohols, at least 270 `ester 'groups Vare required.

In some instances, because of the structure and spacing of the ester groups 'on the surface, even with about 270 of such 'groups per 100 square millimicrons of surface area there may remain tiny uncovered areas which are too 'small to .permit adsorption of the large methyl vred dye mole'- cules or other large molecules, but which can, under the proper conditions, still adsorb a few smaller molecules such as water. In such cases, it is possible, by using more stringent reaction conditions or by using mixtures of alcohols, to force more than 270 ester groups to react per 150 square inillimicrons of the surface. In these products the chemically-reacted Yester -groups vare crowded so closely together on the surface thatV even greater stability is achieved.

The effectiveness of a particular ester group in blocking or protecting a portion of the .silica surface i dependent upon the cross-sectional area of the group. Thus, a large, branched, bushy group can act as an umbrella, and effec tively protect a larger area of the surface than can an OR group in which R is a short straight chain hydrocarbon radical. An approximate relationship between the characteristic bushiness o1" an ester group and its eective surface protection may be derived from the molecular structure. rIhe term n (branch number) is dened as the maximum number of equivalent branches in the ester groups which is determined by counting the maximum number of carbon atoms each of which is separated from the oxygen atom by an equal number of carbon atoms. 'This corresponds to the width o the hydrocarbon group at its thickest point, if spread out fiat. As an eX- treme case of branching, the following molecule is 5 carbon atoms wide at its broadest point, as counted above: 5,7,7-trimethyl- 2 (1,"3,'3 -trimethylbutyl) 1-octanol. The number of ester groups required to protect the surface so as to give Zero methyl red adsorption can be estimated for alcohols having 12. greater than 2 on the basis that an alcohol with a branch number n will cover (0.14 n) square millirnicrons.

In the foregoing characterization of the prod-V ucts of this invention the surface esterication is described in terms of the number of ester groups per lilo square millimicrons of surface area of the substrate. This surface area is calculated from the nitrogen adsorption. However, the specific surface area of the esteri'ed product, so determined, is not always the same as the specific surface area of the original substrate. For 'substances with specific surface area .up to 1'00 na/g., the amount of alcohol reacted per unit weight of material is relatively small, and has relatively little effect on the specific surface area of the nal product. On the other hand, with siliceous solids of extremely high specific surface area, which can react with relatively large proportions by weight -of alcohol, the specific surface area of the esterifled product is'lower than that of the original vsubstrate material because of the extra Weight of reacted alcohol which is included in the product, Without a corresponding increase in the totalsur'face. The specific surface area of the product, which is the total surface area divided by Tthe weight, 'is therefore less than that of the internal structure. This change is particularly marked 'when the siliceous solid is ester-ined with alcohols of high molecular weight, giving final products which are high Ain 'added organic content.

lIn siliceous solids of extremely high vsurface area, the v'effect of esterication on .specific Asurface area is particularly 'marked also where the pores within the solid 'are very small. It is probn able that small surface .irregularities and line pores are blocked 'as a result of 'esterinca'tion of the wallsof th'e's'e ,p'o'res 'with long chain alcohols, thereby also contributing to a decrease in `specificl'sur'face area.

That this change in surface area was not due to a basic change iin 'the internal `siliceoussstructure during Ies'terication, is demonstrated by the 'fact that the substrate lcan be -recovered in its 'original form, and with its original surface area, y-by'removal of the ester groups. The Yesterifled product may be :decomposed by slowing heating it in a stream of oxygen up to 500 C. and held-ing it 'there :for about 23 hours. Thus, a sample :of precipitated, jreinforced silica gel having a specific surface Tarea of 314 m:2/g. was esterii'ed 'with butanol, :giving va .product with a specific surface area 'of 277 .m2/g. as determined by nitrogen adsorption, and aJspe'ciflc .hydroxylated surface area of zero as determined by dye adsorption, The esteried'productwas then heated in a stream of oxygen 'to burn -olf `the butoxy groups from the silica substrate. The resulting siliceous material was 'placed in a 100% relative humidity chamber for one week at 30 C., in order to reh'ydrate the surface and was then dried at C.for one hour so that valid dye adsorption measurements `could 'be l'obtained on the substrate. The specifiic `surface area of the resulting product was 31S na/g., .as measured :by nitrogen adsorption (which compares very closely with the 314 m.2/g. of the unesterified substrate), and the specichydr'oxylated surface area was 311 m.2/g., as determined by adsorption of methyl red dye.

Ehe-OR .groups are Achemically bonded to the silica 'surface of the substrate. Further, from the dimensions of the -OR groups and the surface farea'of substrates i-t is apparent that even in cases 'of the most complete-esterication, the number of -OR groups per unit area never eX- ceeds that which would be equivalent to a monomolecular layer of -OR groups on the surface. Consequently, the organophilizing Vor hydrophobing of the surface is accomplished by a minimum number `of organic groups. These profound changesin Vthe surface character of the silica are broughtJ about with a minimum increase in organic content and with minimum changes in the particle dimensions, total surface area, or internal properties. The esteried product is thus not the result of a gross multimolecular layer or polymer on the exterior walls of the particles.

The esteried products of this invention can be compounded with organic substances to form compositions of matter wherein the esteried materials Ybecome practically an integral part of the organic composition due to their increased compatibility.Y Such compositions are lled, extended, strengthened, reinforced and made lmore water-resistant by the esterifled products. Known uses for non-esteried siliceous materials take on new signiiicance when the esteried products are employed. Such novel compositions are described and claimed in my copending United States application Serial No. 171,760, led July 1, 1950.

This application is a continuation-in-part roi my application Serial No. 171,759 nled July 1, 1950, as a continuation-in-part of my then copending applications Serial No. 130,343, led November 30, 1949, and Serial No. 590,723, nled April 27, 1945, each of the aforementioned three applications now abandoned.

EXAMPLES The invention will be better understood by reference to the following illustrative examplesin addition to those already given.

Example 1 A siliceous substrate is yprepared in the following manner:

Fifty-six liters of a solution of low molecular weight polysilicic acid containing 5% SiOz and having a pH of 2.5 is prepared by injecting equal volumes of dilute solutions oi sulfuric acid and sodium silicate having an SiO2:Na2O weight ratio of 3.25 through separate orifices under high pressure into a mixing zone. To the 56 liters of polysilicio acid solution is added live liters of water and the solution is then permitted to stand at 30 C. for 21 hours to permit the silicio acid to polymerize. At the end of this time polymerization has not progressed to the point where the solution has become viscous.

To further polymerize the silicic acid there is added, with very violent agitation, a suicient volume of 12% sodium hydroxide solution to raise the pH to 3.5. The mixture is then stirred for seven minutes during which time the viscosity increases to such a degree that the delivery time from a viscosity pipette increases from about l0 to 93 seconds. A sufficient volume of 30% sulfuric acid is then added with continued agitation to reduce the pH as quickly as possible to 2.0, thereby greatly diminishing the rate of polymerization.

Immediately there is added 5.5 liters of tertiary butyl alcohol and 1S kg. of sodium chloride and the mixture is then stirred for 30 minutes. During this time the viscosity increases rapidly due to formation ci a precipitate of silica so that there must be added 35 liters of water, 11.8 kg. of sodium chloride and 3.0 liters of tertary butyl alcohol in order to maintain the mixture in a fluid condition and yet maintain a medium of constant composition. Stirring is continued for 30 minutes and the mixture then permitted to stand for 18 hours.

The silica suspension is filtered, the filter calze broken up and slurried with 110 liters or" water to which has been added 90 cc. oi a 80% sulfuric acid solution in order to maintain the pH of the mixture around 2.0. The slurry is then filtered and the iilter cake again washed twice by reslurrying with acidulated water and filtering. The thrice washed cake is then slurried with 25 liters of tertiary butyl alcohol, filtered, and the lter cake washed with 13 liters of tertiary butyl alcohol in order to remove as much water as possible.

The wet precipitate, after separation from the precipitation medium. consists of finely divided, hydrated silica in the form of coherent aggregates.

Esterication of the substrate is accomplished as follows:

26 The alcoholic filter cake is placed in a still with 18 liters of n-butyl alcohol. Heating the still externally wits steam the slurry is distilled with intermittent additions of n-butyl alcohol to maintain the charge in a fluid condition until the water content in the distillate has dropped from an original value of 13.4 g. of water per 100 cc. to less than 1 g. of water per 100 cc. During the distillation there is added 28 liters of n-butyl alcohol to maintain the charge in a iiuid condition. A total distillation time of about eight hours is required. Finally the distillation is continued with no further addition of n-butanol until no more distillate is recovered, the charge in the still being completely dry.

The esteried product is an extremely linely divided, free-flowing, fluiy powder weighing 4.02 kg. and containing 80.35% SiOz by weight after being dried in an oven 18 hours at 13G-135 C. When placed in a test tube with water and butanol, the product seeks the organic phase and, hence, is organophilic. It is extremely hydrophobic, thatis, it is not wetted when shaken up with water but is readily suspended in benzene and other organic solvents. After being dried 18 hours at 13G-135 C. the -polysilicic acid ester has the following analysis:

Percent Loss on ignition 19.46 Silica 80.35 Nonsiliceous ash 0.19

Iron 0.07

Sodium Y 0.07 Carbon 9.57 Hydrogen 2.99

On the basis of this analysis the esteried product contains 0.2 butoxy group per silicon atom. The carbon content is not reduced by repeated extraction with dry benzene.

The specific surface area of the esteried product was 5,33m.2/g..by nitrogen adsorption. Electron micrographs revealed that the product consisted of agglomerated microgelparticles. The ultimate dense particles were too small to be measured adequately by the electron microscope, but from their appearance and surface area they were undoubtedly of the order of 5 millimicrons in diameter.

The esteried product described was useful as a reinforcing agent in an approximately butadiene/approximately 25% styrene co-polymer rubber, known to the trade as Buna S or GRf-S, by incorporating it into the rubberalong with -the customary Vulcanizing and curing agents.

Example Z This example illustrates the esterication of a substrate comprising aggregates of dense, ultimate amorphous silica units, by azeotropically distilling out water therefrom in the presence of an alcohol.

The substrate `was prepared in the following l manner:

A silica heel sol, containing 1.5% of SiOz, was made by adding one volume of a solution of 0,48 N sulfuric acid at a uniform rate, over a period of 30 minutes and at a temperature of about 30 C., with violent agitation, to three volumes of a solution of sodium silicate containing 2% SiO2 and having a molar SiOzzNazO ratio of 3.36. Thus, of the Naz() in the original sodium silicate was neutralized and the pI-l dropped from 11.3 to about 9. This clear sol contained extremely tiny, discrete particles of silica, the average diameter being less than 5 millimicrons.

The size of ultimate particles in the heel sol was built up by heating it to 95 C. and adding solutions ofY sodium silicate and sulfuric.` acid simul-` taneously but' separately with vigorous` agitation, at a uniform rate over aY period 01:"l tWohours. The sodium silicate solution contained 9/3 SiOz and had a molar-SiOzrNazO ratio of 3*.36. Enough 4%' sulfuric acid solution (approximately equa-l in volume to the sodium silicate solution) was added' so thatV 80% ofthe N'azO in the silicateV so-V lutionwas neutralized. The addition of silicate and-acid was continued until'one part of SiOz had been added for each part' of SiOz present in the heel. During the additions the pI-I ofthe heel slowly rose from 9- to 10' and was thenmaintained at about 10. The sodium ion concentration remained below 0.3 N'throughoutA the process;

During the heating of the heel and subsequent addition of silicateand acid, the tiny, discretel particles of silica increased7 in sizey andv then be came chemically bound together/in the formL of coherent aggregates of supercolloidal'size Wherein the colloidal particles were present as denseultimate units. The aggregates were precipitated.

To aid filtration, the slurry Was furtherloccu lated with a 2% solution of a mixture of-cetyl and lauryl'trimethylammoniurnA bromide, 0.16% of the mixed compounds being added, based on the Weight of the silica. The slurry was filtered,` the lter cake reslurried in water, the pH adjusted to` about 7 With dilute sulfuric acid;A againltered on a vacuum filter, and the filter cake Washed' with Water.

The iilter cake contained about 12.5 %Y by weight of SiOz. After drying in air at 120 C. the speciiic surfacearea of the siliceous substrate` in powder form, ranged from about4 250. tov 365 HL2/g. on separate batches, and'` averaged about 300 m.2/g.

The substrate thusV prepared. WasV esterifed as follows:

Sixteen hundred grams. ofthe Wet filter cake (containing about 200 grams oi silica onthe, dry basis) were slurri'ed with 1300. grams of. normal butanol, making 31/2' liters of a suspension having a pH of' 6.0. A 600 cc.. portion of the slurrv Was adjustedv to pli-15.5 with HC1, and an additional 300 cc. of butanol Were added to reducethe'viscosity. This portion wasl then placed ina 2liter, three-necked ask equippedwith an electric heat.- ing mantle, a thermometer, a dropping funnel, a mechanical stirrer., and a 3/4 inch column, 3 it. long, packed with l@ inch. glass. helices.. W'ater was then removed by azeotropic. distillation at a reflux ratio of 2 :1, While 150 cc. of butanol Were added to keep the Viscosity low. When the distillate no longer separated into two layers and the pot temperature rose to 11.0 C. (indicating that most of the water had been removed) the reflux ratio was increased to greater than 10:1, and the distillation was continued for eight hours. During the first part of. this. period, the. pot. temperature rose to 11181 C., the boilingpoint-of-norA` mal butanol, where it-remained for` therest'of theI reuxingperiod". After the reiluxing Was coinpleted, the slurry was cooled and ltered.. The cake, which Was wet with butanol, was dried on a steam bath until the od'or of butanol had nearly disappeared, and then in a 120i; C. oven for' 24A hours;

The dry product Was ground ina mortarv to aV fluffy, White powder. Thirty-five grams of this, esteri'ed silica product'was obtained Tliezprod-v uct-was organophilic as indicated by the fact that it' migrated' into the organic layer when. shaken; with a mixture of water and normalbutanol. It is further characterized as` product No. 1 in Table I, below.

AnotheriSOO. c c..portion of the substrate slurry was subjected to azeotropic distillationl with nbutanol as above described, except that the reuxiirne was three hours instead of eight. The organophilic, esteriiied product obtainedis characterized. asj productNo. 2 in Table I.

A further 600 cc.` portion of4 substrate slurry Was subj ected toazeotropic.distillation as already described up to the point atA which thev distillate no longer settledinto. tWo. layers,. and the pottemperaturerrose-to 110 C., indicating thatmost of the Water had been. removed The slurry was then cooled, filtered and. dried. The esteriedl product obtained, is. characterized. as. product No. 3 in Table I.

From a comparison` of` products 1, 2, and 3,` it is evident that significant estericationwas reached during the azeotropic dehydration, carriedout up to atemperature of 110 C. The. products of all of these examples were organophil'ic. Additional esterication occurred as thev result of reuxing from 110 to 118 C., With removal of an additional, very small4 amount of Water, for the periods of three and eight` hours, respectively. This esterication was accompanied by a decrease in the specic; surface. area ofv the esterifed products, and a corresponding increase in. bulk4 density. The esteriiication results. in a consideiable decrease` in thevspecii-lc` hydroxylated surface area with the increase in esterication.

Further separate 600 cc. portionsv of the substrate slurry were subjected to. esterication in the same manner as just described for product No. 2, with the difference that the, pH, was adjusted tov 8.5 to make product No. 4. and to 2.0. to make product No. 5, by the addition of sodium hydroxide, and HCl, respectively, as compared to the pI-I of 5.5 previously used.

The characterization data. of these organophilic esteried products isgiven in Table I. A comparison of products 2,4, and 5 demonstrates that good esterication can be obtained in these cases over the range of atleast pH 2 to pH 8.5, with more complete esterication being obtained. at the higher pH values.v

EXAMPLE 2.-'1AB LEI I Av. Chemical analyses per- S-n dpore R cent by weight S P t Denslty (L/cc 1emee ux creen Pl'fct Blld' sflltje B ter of time prodnuct E surface (mA/g.) ugjt' (hrs-)- SO o H (m2/g3 ara covered 3 7s 1,560 361m@ 1 7 (HL2/g.) p. s. i. p. s. i. p. s. i.

1A 1 :1 330 U 14. 6 8 90. 05 4. 70 v 1. 45 304 61 189 2.. 1:1 330 14. 6 3 88. 79 4. 37 1. 32 317 113 175 3 1:1 360 14. 6- 0 86. 55 2. 39 1. 07 356 245 86 4" 1:1 114.6 3 87.75 5.73 1.50 280 66 5.. 1 :1 360. 314. 6 3 88. 64 4. 47 I. 36 339 98 164 E=numbcr of ester groups ner square millimicrons of surfacoarea.

n=spec1fc surface area as determined by nitrogen adsorption. l:measured after burning ester groups oli oiesteried product and rehydrating the siliccous substrate.

=measured on substrate before esterication,

This example illustrates the esterification, by azeotropic distillation with n-butanol, of a conventional silica gel which has not been dried from water and therefore has not undergone structure collapse.

'I'o prepare the silica gel for use as the substrate, two liters of an aqueous solution containing 45 grams HzSOi were heated to 80 C., and there was added, over a period of minutes with stirring, two liters of an aqueous solution of sodium silicate containing 4% SiOz and having a molar ratio of SiO2:Na2O of 3.36. The temperature, was maintained at 80 C. throughout the mixing; thereafter the solution was cooled to 50o C. and adjusted to a pH of 5, whereupon it gelled. The gel was broken up, ltered, and the lter cake was washed on the lter with water and then with methanol. The Wet lter cake was esteriiied by azeotropic distillation with n-butanol according to the procedure described for product No. 2 of Example 2.

An organophilic, esteried product was obtained. It consisted of supercolloidal aggregates made up of tiny ultimate units and had a weak gel structure as evidenced by the high densities obtained. The surface area of the sample was very high, as was the esterication obtained.

The product is further characterized below:

Sn substrate (m/g.) a567 AV. pore diameter of substrate (ma) 8.9 Chemical analysis:

Percent by wt. S102 81.13 Percent by wt. C 10.11 Percent by wt. H 2.31 Sn .product (m2/g.) 542 Specic hydroxylated surface area (m.2/g.) 87 E 254 Density (g./u.)

3 p. s. i 0.361 78 p. s. i 0.380 1560 p. s. i 0.504

Eznumber of ester groups per 100 square millimicrons of surface area.

Snzspecic surface area. as determined by nitrogen adsorption.

zineasured after burning ester groups off of esterified product and rehydrating the siliceous substrate.

Example 4 This example illustrates the esteriiication of a silica aercgel by azeotropic distillation with n-butanol.

As the substrate. silica aerogel was used (San tocel C produced by the Monsanto Chemical Co.) having a specific surface area of 157 :n2/g. and a specific hydroxylated surface area of 114 ing/g. as determined by dye adsorption. The bulk density of the material was 0.087 g./cc. at 3 p. s. i.; 0.139 g./cc. at 78 p. s. i.; and 0.451 g./cc. at 1560 p. s. i. above atmospheric pressure.

Ten grams of the dry aerogel stirred into 200 cc. of water gave a slurry having a pH of 4.8. The pH was adjusted to 5.5 by the addition of sodium hydroxide. The silica was then transferred to n-butanol, azeotropically dehydrated and reiluxed for 3 hours and the esteried product recovered as described for product No. 2 of Example 2.

The esteried product was organophilic, and was further characterized as follows:

30 Y Sn substrate (na/gl- 157 Av. pore diameter of substrate (rn/i) 12.4 Redux time (hrs.) 3 Chemical analysis:

Percent by wt. SiOa 93.96 Percent by wt. C 1.88 Percent by wt. H 0.74 Sn product (m2/g.) 154 Specific hydroxylated surface area (m2/g.) 71 158 Percent surface covered 54 Example 5 This example illustrates the preparation of a product having a high degree of surface esterilcation, Vby heating a siliceous substrate with nbutanol under pressure.

A siliceous substrate was prepared as follows: One volume of a solution of 0.48 N sulfuric acid was added at a uniform rate over a period of 30 minutes, at a temperature of about 30 C., to three Volumes of a solution of sodium silicate containing 2% Si02 and having a molar CiOzzNazO ratio of 336:1. The sulfuric acid solution was chemically equivalent to of the NazO in the sodium silicate solution. Vigorous agitation was provided to insure thorough and rapid mixing and the temperature of the reacting mass was maintained below 40 C. throughout. The acid was added at a point near the agitator so that distribution was almost instantaneous. During the acid addition, the pH dropped from 11.3 to about 9.7 and the sodium ion concentration remained below 0.3 N throughout the process. A clear` sol resulted.

The sol obtained by the above step contained 1.5% SiOz. The solids in the sol consisted of Y discrete particles of silica having an average diameter less than 5 millimicrons, too small to be measured by the electron microscope.

The sol was heated to C. Solutions of sodium silicate and sulfuric acid were then added simultaneously at a uniform rate over a period of two hours. The sodium silicate solution added contained 13.2% SiOz and had a molar SiO2zNa2O ratio of 335:1. The sulfuric acid was a 4% adueous solution and was added in amounts suflicient to neutralize 80% of the Nav@ in the silicate solution. The addition of silicate and acid was continued until one part of SiOz had been added for each part of the Sioz present in the initial sol. The pI-I of the mixture remained in the range from 10.2 to 10.4 during the simultaneous addition step. Sodium ion concentration remained below 0.3 N throughout the process.

At the conclusion of the simultaneous addition. of silicate and acid, acid addition was continued until an amount had been added such that the pH of the reacting mass measured at 25 C. was lowered to 5.5. Acid addition was then stopped.

During the heating of the initial sol and the subsequent addition of silicate and acid, the tiny, discrete, dense ultimate particles of silica increased in size; they became chemically bound together in the form of open networks or coherent aggregates of supercolloidal size. This action is called the build-up" step. The aggregates precipitated so that the resulting was in the form of a slurry.

Final ilocculation of the coherent aggregates of amorphous silica was accomplished by maintaining the slurry at a temperature of 95-100" C. for a period of four hours.

Si" The resulting slurry was; thenY filtered and:y Washed on the filter to remove soluble sodium sulfate. The wet filter cake as' obtained on the vacuum lter contained 6-7% SiOz by weight.

The esterication of the substrate was carried out as follows: 380 parts by weight of thelter cake containing about 24 parts byweight of silica was slurried in 310 parts by weight of nbutanol. The butanol slurry of the wet. lter cake was azeotropically dehydrated, continuously removing water and recycling butanol until noy more water separated in the still head, Some butanol was then distilled until the slurry remaining in the still pot contained about 9% by weight SiO2 and less than 0.3% water.

The slurry was then heated at 320.Q C. under autogenous pressure for about onev hour. The butyl estersill thus producedwas recovered from the butanol and dried under 2li.A inches mercury vacuum at 120 C. to remove the remaining physically adsorbed butanol.

The dry butyl estersil obtained; was an organophilic and hydrophobic pulverulent; powder- By' chemical analysis it was. shown to contain4 7.74% carbon, 1.58% hydrogen and 1.49% non-siliceous; ash. The specic surface area, Sn, of the butyl estersil as determined by nitrogen adsorption was- 290 111.2/ g. The specific hydroxylated' surface area, SD, as determined by the methylv red dye adsorption method was 5.65 no2/g.

The specific surface area of the substrate obl tained by burning ofi the butylestercoatingl from the butyl estersil was 338 1151.2/ as deter-rn.ined by nitrogen adsorption. Thus there were 31,1 nbutoxy groups per 100- square millimicrons of; sub-A strate surface area.

On a. series of products made under largevsoalo operating conditions byy the method above-described, products having properties in the fol lowing*l ranges were obtained: Specific surface area by nitrogen, m/g 274 to 312 Percent carbon b v analysis T107 to 8.06. Specific hydroxylated surface area, SD, by dye adsorptiony m.2/g 31471501315 Under the practical operating conditions cncountered in plant operation, the maximum variations in the properties of the estersil products obtained is about as follows:

tiperilic surface area by nitrogen, D12/gn--- 270. to 330 Percent carbon by analysis", (5.5 to 9.,() Specific hydroxylated surface area, SD, by dye adsorption,

inf/g., less than 30 The foregoing. limits. represent characteristics iv a preferred product. of the. invention.

This illustrates the esterification of another siliceous substrate with various alcohols.

To make the substrate a silica heel sol was pre-Y pared by heating to 95 C. a solutionv of sodium silicate having an SiOez'lliazO :mole ratio of 3.36, and containing 3,64 grams of; S1072' per 10,0 milliliters, and adding to ten volumes ci? this hot sil-icate solution 1 volume of av 2-.9 N sulfuricy acid solution over a periodY of one-half hour., at a uniform rate, and withv vigorous agitation, The final SiO2 concentration was 3.3% and 89% of the Na2O originally pre-sent in the sodium silicate solution was neutralized, i.. e., the nal SOsrNazO mol ratio was equal to 0.8. The, Na+ ion. concen-r tration was maintained at less than 0.4;. N throughout the. process and the,v final pH of the sol was about 10. In this manner an opalescent silica sol was prepared, the particles ofY which 32 were about 15 millirnicronsin diameter as determined from electron micrographs.

To this heel equal' volumes of sodium silicate solution (S1021Na20 mole ratio=3-36 and a sulfurie `acid solution were added simultaneously but separately with vigorous agitation over a two hour period, While the temperature was maintained at l C. The concentration of the sodium silicate solution was about 6.6 grams of S102 per 100 milliliters and a sufficient volume was added over the two hour period so that two parts of SiOz were` added for each part of Si02 originally prese enti in the heel The concentration of SiOz in the silica sol or slurry was maintained at 3.3 grams ofiA S102 per 100 milliliters throughout the preparation. The concentration of the sulfuric acid (0.52 N) was adjusted so that at all times the ratio of S03 to Naso in the solution was 0.8, i. e., a. pH of about l0 was maintained. The Na+ ion Concentration was maintained at less than 0.4. N throughout the process. Early in the build-up process the. particles of siilica present in the heel started to coalesce and precipitate. The nal slurry was ltered, the wet filter cake was reslurried in water, and coagulated with 0.2% by weight (based on Si02) of a'mixture of equirnolar portions of cetyl and lauryl trimethylammonium bromide. The pH was adjusted to about S with 4 molar sulfuric acid, the reslurry was filtered, washed, and the cakewas dried and the soft, pulverable product was powdered in a Raymond mill.

The dry powder consisted of coherent aggregates of coalesced ultimate dense units having an average unit diameter of 25 millimicrons as measured from electron micrographs and a specific surface area 50:94 m.2/g. as calculated therefrom. The specic surface area as measured by nitrogen adsorption (Sn) was 97 hr2/g. and the specific hydroxylated surface area was 9'? na/g. as measured by methyl red adsorption. Thus coalescence factor was. 0.97. Av slurry of 4. grams of the silica in a0 cc. of distilled water had a pH of 8.2. rlhe iollowing results were obtained upon chemical analysis: 89.54% SiO2, 0.23% carbon, 1.20% sodium, 4.92% H2O by Fischer titration, 2.26% non-siliceous ash, and 8.25% loss on ignition. The bull; density of the dry powder was 0.160 g./cc. at 3 p. s. i.; 0.239 g./cc. at 78 p. s. i.; and 0.492 g./cc. at 1560 p. s. i. above atmospheric pressure.

This silica powder was further dried in vacuum at '70 C... for a. period oi. 8 hours. To surfaceesterify it, fifty grams of the silica was slurried in 500 cc. of n-butanol and the mixture was heated in an autoclave at 190 C. The autoclave was then cooled and the slurry was ltered. The butanol filtrate contained 0.82% water. The n1- ter cake was dried in a vacuum oven at 75 C. for a period of about 48 hours.

The esterined product obtained had the foi1owing chemical analysis: Loss on ignition 8.01%; SiOz 89.44%; non-siliceous ash 2.56%; carbon 2.55%; hydrogen 1.02%. Thus, there were 0.036 butoxy groups per SiOz or 340 butoxy groups per square mill-irnicrons of substrate surface area. The specific hydroxylated surface area as calculated from dye adsorption was a 95% reduction as a result of esteriication.

A separate 25-gram sample of the dry silica powder, having a specic surface area of 98 m.2/ g., was slurried in 300 cc. of normal propanol, and

83 the mixture heated in an autoclave under autogenous pressure to 350 C., and then allowed to cool to room temperature. The resulting slurry was filtered and dried lat 75 C. in a vacuum oven.

The dry, esteriled product had a specific hydroxylated surface area of 8 m.2/g. as calculated from the adsorption of methyl red dye, a 92 $3 decrease as the result of esteriiication. The product had the following chemical analysis: SiOe, 84.56%; carbon 2.86%; hydrogen 0.95 non-siliceous ash 6.43%; loss on ignition 9.02%. The product was organophilic and hydrophobic.

A separate twenty-five gram portion of the dry silica powder was slurricd in 300 cc. of allyl alcohol and the mixture heated under autogenous pressure in an autoclave to 205 C. While the temperature was maintained at this point, the autoclave was vented to permit the alcohol to escape as a vapor. The esteriied powder remaining in the bomb was dried at 75 C. in vacuum and was organophilic. rhe product had the following chemical analysis: S102 76.05%; loss on ignition 18.02%; nonsiliceous ash 5.93%; carbon 8.12%; hydrogen 1.55%; bromine consumption 5.87 grams bromine per 100 grams of product. The specific hydroxylated surface area as calculated froin the adsorption of methyl red dye was 8 m.2/g. Since each unsaturated group will taire two bromine atoms, this data permits the calculation of unsaturated groups per unit surface area. This calculation gives 252 unsaturated groups per 100 square millimcrons of substrate surface area. Calculations based on the carbon content give higher values, which are considered less accurate, since they may reflect the presence of polymeric material which may have been formed from the allyl alcohol as a by-prcduct under the conditions of the experiment.

A separate 10 gram portion of silica substrate, similarly prepared but having an ultimate particle diameter of my. was esterified by suspending it in 200 cc. of dicyclopentenyl alcohol and heating for one hour under autogenous pressure at 250 C. in an autoclave. The esterified product was filtered, washed with methyl ethyl ketone twice, and dried at 75 C. in vacuum for 48 hours. Tthe esteried product was an organophilic, hydrophobic white powder. The specified hydroxylated surface area as determined by methyl red dye adsorption was zero.

Another fifty gram portion of the silica substrate powder was esteried by suspending it in 500 cc. of Geraniol (a mixture of alcohols of the type 3,7dimethyl-2,6 octadiene 1 ol; CioHirOH) and heating for 1 hour under autogenous pressure at 250 C. in an autoclave. The product was filtered, washed three times by slurrying in methyl ethyl ketone and ltering each time. The lter cake was dried at 75 C..v in a vacuum oven for about hours. The esteried product was organophilic and hydrophobic. The specie hydroxylated surface area was zero.

A further one gram portion of the silica substrate powder was esterified by mixing it with 10 cc. of propargyl alcohol and heating to 11G-137 C. for 6 hours in a sealed glass tube. Ihe tube was cooled and opened, and the slurry filtered. The filter cake was washed by slurrying with acetone to remove the color resulting from the darkening of the alcohol during the heating cycle. The product was dried at 75 C. in a Vacuum oven. It was organophilic. The specific hydroxylated surface area as determined by dye adsorption was 8 m.2/g.

A further twenty gram portion of the siliceous substrate was suspended in 500 cc. of cyclohexanol and the mixture was heated for one hour at 250 C. under autogenous pressure in an autoclave. The esteriried product was filtered, washed with methyl ethyl ketone twice and dried at C. in a vacuum oven for e8 hours. ri'he dry esteried product was a free-flowing white powder which was organophilic and hydrophobic. The specific hydroxylated surface area was 9 m.2/g.

Example 7 This illustrates the use of still other alcohols for surface-esterifying siiceous substrates.

The sil1ca substrate was prepared 1n the form of a wet cake by build-up from sodium silicate and sulfuric acid via a heel oi' silica sol as described Ior product 1 ol' Example 2. rIhe cake was washed by reslurryilig in acetone 3 times and ltering each time. Two hundred ni'ty grams of the acetone-washed cake (containing about 10% H2O) Was slurried in a 200 milliliter portion of Formula No. 3A, anhydrous, denatured ethanol and was then filtered. The siurrymg in alcohol and mtration were repeated, and the rilter cake was then suspended in 1,500 cc. of ethanol. The acetone and Water were removed by fractional distillation. The slurry was placed 1n an autoclave and the substrate was suriace-esterilied by heating to 300 C. under pressure. The product was then cooled to room temperature, the suspension was iiltereu, and the inter cake was dried at 15 C. in a vacuum oven for a period of about 48 hours. 1lhe dry product was organopnllic, hydrophobic and ausorped no methyl red dye.

lhe foregoing procedure was repeated, Substituting for the ethanol, in turn, each of the following alcohols as the esterii'ying agent:v

Isopropanol n-hexanol n-butyl alcohol n-octanol isobutanol 2,2,4,trimethyl hexanol technical stearyl alcohol (Stenol) technical lauryl alcohol (Lorol) branched chain octadecyl alcohol (5,7,7-trimethyl, 2(1,3,3trimethyl butyl) octane-l-ol) With the last three alcohols listed above, the esterication procedure was modified somewhat from that described above for ethanol. n the case of technical stearyl alcohol the slurry obtained after autoclaving was filtered and the filter cake was then washed by reslurrying in hot methy ethyl ketone three times and filtering after each washing. The product was dried at 75 C. in a vacuum oven for 48 hours. lauryl alcohol 1000igrams of the water-wet silica substrate lter cake was suspended in 3 liters of normal butanol and dehydrated by azeotropic distillation. The silica slurry in butanol was then filtered and the lter cake was reslurried in 1000 cc. of technical lauryl alcohol (Lorol). The remaining butanol was removed by fractional distillation. The suspension was then reuxed at atmospheric pressure for two hours at 228 C. to 230 C. The'esteried product was then recovered as described above for stearyl alcohol. For the highly branched octadecyl alcohol the procedure employed for technical stearyl alcohol was used.

lll

With technical` Example 8 This describes preparation of the type of product illustrated in Figure of the drawings.

To make the substrate, a 2% aqueous dispersion of hectorite clay (Wax Eyrite) was acidied to pH 2 by the addition of 3 N hydrochloricacid and kept at pH 2 for a period of 9 hours at room temperature. The clay was filtered, washed twice by resuspension in water and ltered, and was nally resuspended in water at a solids concentration of 1.4%. The pH was 5.45. The aqueous slurry was ltered and the clay transferred to anhydrous No. 3 denatured alcohol at about 3.4% solids.

Thelsubstrate in the resulting slurry was esteriiied in an autoclave by vheating at 275-285 C. for minutes, reaching a maximum pressure of 4,600 p. s. i. g., and then venting the solvent -as algas.

Avery light, uiy white -solid remained in the autoclave. It was =not hydrophobic, but -Was organophilic as shown by the fact that -it migrated into the butanol layer when -shaken'witheJ mixture of n-butanol and water. Chemical analysis (after evacuation at 60 C. to -remove any free solvents) showed that Vthe product `contained 74.42% SiOz, 3.29% carbon, 1.22% hydrogen, and 15.22% non-siliceous ash, Acorresponding to a ratio of 1 SiO2:0.1l ethoxy groups. hydroxylated Ysurface area -of the acid-treated hectorite was 398 HL2/g. and that of the esteried material 23-7 m.2/g. as determined by the adsorption of methyl `red dye, whereas the -surfaceareaof theacid-treatedmaterial as determined by Anitrogen adsorption was 376 m2/g. Electron microscopic examination demonstrated that the acid-treated and esteried materiallcontained ribbon-like particles -an average of about 70 millimicrons wide and about 700 millimicrons long. Y

Example 9 This example shows the esterication of asbestos which had been acid-treated tof-produce surface-silanol groups thereon. Y

Chrysotile asbestos (No. 2 grade-from Quebec, Canada) was put through a :Wiley chopping -mill to reduce the fiber length toanaverageof about 1/4 inch. Four pounds .of `the dry ber .were mixed with pounds .of l-inch porcelain balls and 80 pounds of water in a 25-gallon porcelain ball mill `and were milled for 16 hours. The resulting suspension was ltered and 1/2 of the wet cake .(containing 2 pounds of asbestos on a dr-y basis) was thoroughly mixed with 3 gallons `of water and 36 pounds of C. P. 37% HCl in a glass-lined Pfaudler kettle .and was heated with stirring for 16 hours at 80 to 92 C. Theresulting suspension was filtered through filter cloth, and the ilter` cake was reslurried with .5 gallons of .distilled water and again .ltered The.filter cake was reslurried two additional times ini-ive gallons -of distilled water followed by ltration. The siliceous substrate was dried at about *110 C. over a period of 24 hours.

To esterify the dry, -siliceous substrate it was slurried in 2 gallons n-butanol, heated to 225 C. ina B-gallon steel autoclave, and cooled to well below 100 C. The total heating and cooling cycle required about 2.5 hours. TheY final slurry ywas ltered and the filter cake was .dried at 120 C. and then put through a Raymond hammer mill to reduce it to a iine, light, fluffyv powder.

The product was hydrophobic and organophilic, Chemical analysis showed it contained 85.6%

The specic S102, 3.58% carbon, 1.43% hydrogen, 3.80% non-'- siliceous ash, and lhad a loss on ignition 'of 10.62%. The specific surface area of the esteri-- fied product was 125 m.2/g. and the specic hy-A droxylated surface area was zero. Electron mi-v croscopic examination revealed that the average diameter of the fibers was about 25 to 30 millimicrons and the average length of the fibers was roughly 0.5 to 1 micron.

I claim:

1. An estersil, which is organophilic, being preferentially wetted by butanol in a butanolwater mixture, the estersil comprising a super colloidal substrate coated with -OR groups, the substrate having a surface of silica and `having a yspecific surface area of from l -to 900 square meters per gram, the coating of -OR 'groups being chemically bound to `said lsilica, ifi, being a hydrocarbon radical of -froin 2 to 18 vcarbon atoms wherein the carbon atom attached to oxygen isalso attached to hydrogen.

2. An hydrophobic estersil comprising a supercolloidal substrate coated with -OR groups, the substrate having a surface of silica and lhaving a specific surface area of from l .to 900 square meters Yper gram, the coating `of -OR groups being chemically bound to said silica, R being a hydrocarbon radical of from 2 to 18 carbon atoms wherein the carbonatom attached to oxygen is also attached -by hydrogen.

3. An estersil comprising a supercollodal substrate coated with -OR groups, the Vsubstrate having a surface of silica and `having -a specific surface area `of from 25 to 900 `square meters lper gram, there 'being .in Vthe -OR group coating, chemically bound to said silica, at least '100 -OR groups per 100 square millimicrons of substrate surface area, R being a hydrocarbon radical of from 2 to 18 carbon atoms wherein the carbon attached to oxygen is also -attached to hydrogen.

4. An estersil vcomprising `a supercolloidal substrate coated with OR groups, the substrate having asurfaceof silica `and having a specific surface .area of from 25 to 900 square meters per gram, 1therebeing in lthe OR group coating, chemically bound to said silica, at least-200 VOR groups per.100 square millimicrons of substrate surface area, R being a hydrocarbon radical of from2 to v18 carbon .atoms wherein the `carbon attached to oxygen is also attached to hydrogen.

;5. An .estersil comprising a supercolloidalsubstrate coated with OR groups, the substrate having a surface .of .silica and having a specic surface area of from 25 to 9.00 square meters per gram, .there being in :the -eOR group coating, chemically -bound to said silica, at least270 -OR groups per .100 square .millimicrons of substrate surface area and the coating `being substantially impervious to methyl red dye, and the -R of the -OR group being a hydrocarbon radical of from 2 .to 18 carbon :atoms wherein lthe carbon attached Vtti-oxygen Ais also attached to hydrogen.

6. An estersil comprisinga ysupercolloidal s ubstrate `coated with `alkoxy groups, the substrate having a surface of silica and having a specific surface area of Vfrom .25 to 900 square meters `per gramythere being in Ithe alkoxy group coating, chemicallyl bound Yto .said silica, at least .210 alkoxygroups per 1,00 Lsquare Vmillimicrons of sub-V strate surface area and the `coating beingsubstantially impervious to methyl red dye, and the alkylradical of the alkoxy groupbeinga hydrocarbon of from 2 to 18A carbon atoms wherein .the

carbon attached to oxygen is also attachedjlto hydrogen. 

1. AN ESTERSIL, WHICH IS ORGANOHILIC, BEING PREFERENTIALLY WETTED BY BUTANOL IN A BUTANOLWATER MIXTURE, THE ESTERSIL COMPRISING A SUPERCOLLOIDAL SUBSTRATE COATED WITH OR GROUPS, THE SUBSTRATE HAVING A SURFACE ON SILICA AND HAVING A SPECIFIC SURFACE AREA OF FROM 1 TO 900 SQUARE METERS PER GRAM, THE COATING OF -OR GROUPS BEING CHEMICALLY BOUND TO SAID SILICA, R BEING A HYDROCARBON RADICAL OF FROM 2 TO 18 CARBON 